7 BRONX WEEKLY April 12, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
How is COVID-19 affecting the homeless?
BY JASON COHEN
As New York City is sending
homeless people with COVID-19
to shelters, the question remains,
how are the shelters being taken
care of?
According to the Department
of Health and Human Services, as
of April 5, there have been 239 confi
rmed coronavirus cases for homeless,
including 213 cases among
sheltered New Yorkers, 11 among
unsheltered New Yorkers, 15 DHS
referrals and 12 deaths.
There are 392 people in isolation
across fi ve isolation locations,
which also includes several of the
confi rmed-positives as well as nonconfi
rmed symptomatic folks.
“As we face down this disease
together and work hard to support
our city’s most vulnerable residents,
we mourn each individual
lost and we recommit ourselves
each day to this fi ght,” said Isaac
McGinn, a spokesperson for DHS.
“We thank our essential staff for
their continued dedication, as they
report for duty around the clock
and respond to those in need.”
Tarsha McCallum, senior director
of the Safe Horizon Bronx
Domestic Violence Shelter is dealing
with this fi rsthand. Safe Horizon
has two Bronx facilities, both
for stays of up to six months. One
has 66 residents and the other has
16.
McCallum said things have
been diffi cult, but the staff is doing
the best it can. They are providing
residents with hand sanitizer,
disinfectant wipes and reinforcing
social distancing.
According to McCallum, the
shelters are cleaned several times
a day.
“The residents have been abiding
by social distancing,” McCallum
said. “They stagger cooking
times so the families are not using
the kitchen at the same time. We
are educating them about staying
protected (universal precautions
such as washing hands frequently,
keeping their spaces clean and
washing down surfaces).”
She explained that each family
has its own room. The spaces
are large enough for the families
to share and stay six feet apart.
They have also left an apartment
vacant just in case they have a client
with symptoms. Currently, no
one does.
“Though it has been challenging
for everyone, we are dedicated
to serving the residents,”
she said. “They are our fi rst priority.
Operating 24/7 for our residents,
we are working everyday
to implement best practices for
residents during this crisis. We
come into work for the residents
to have a support system, a way
to decompress and process the
situation with them. Our commitment
is ensuring that residents
and staff feel supported,
especially during this critical
time.”
In total, there are 450 shelters
citywide. In family shelters, families
live in separate units. For
single adult sites, dorms tend to
be on average eight to 12 beds
per room. In these single adult
locations, of which there are approximately
100, DHS is modifying
its approach to services and
programs to increase social distancing.
For example, while clients
were not required to leave their
shelters prior to COVID-19, they
did have to leave rooms for unit
cleaning, etc. but now will be
adjusting this requirement. It
has also extended and staggered
meal times to limit gatherings.
If someone is sick, there are
immediately transported either
to the hospital or isolation for
monitoring or recovery. Providers
have been instructed to separate
any clients who may express
experiencing symptoms from
the rest of the population while
promptly seeking care or isolation,
and give him/her a mask
while awaiting transportation.
Tarsha McCallum, senior director of the Safe Horizon Bronx Domestic Violence
Shelter Photo courtesy Safe Horizon
BY JASON COHEN
For more than 20 years Calvin
Thomas put his life on the
line as a member of the NYPD.
Today, he is giving back to his
community without his shield.
Thomas, 49, is the franchise
owner of PostNet, which has
three stores in the Bronx, located
at 557 Grand Concourse,
1451 West Avenue and 460 E
Fordham Road. He opened his
first store in 2008 after retiring
from the 48th Precinct.
Founded in 1992, PostNet is
the leading business-to-business
franchise known for providing
customized, businessenhancing
print, marketing
and shipping solutions.
To help restaurants get the
word out to the community
that they are open for business
during the COVID-19 crisis, he
is offering free flyer and menu
printing for all restaurants (100
B/W, 20lb paper, up to size 11 x
17 , single or double-sided). He
is also calling restaurants giving
them information on reaching
customers via mailing in
the community.
Thomas noted many people
are stuck home without computers
or printers or simply
need a helping hand.
“A lot of people are home
now,” he said to the Bronx
Times. “They have a lot of
stress and things going on in
their mind.”
He also plans to hire new
sales reps to push these services
to assists the restaurant
owners to get the word out to
the community that they are
open for business. All of his
locations are deep cleaned every
weekend along with cleaning
all counters and keyboards
as used. They are practicing
social distance, providing all
the staff with protective equipment
and monitor how many
customers enter the location at
a time.
According to Thomas, he
always had that entrepreneurship
drive in him. While being
a cop was a once in a lifetime
opportunity, he enjoys what
he’s doing now. He noted he
doesn’t miss the bullets and
criminals.
“I always wanted to have my
own business and work for myself,”
he said.
When he saw the COVID-19
crisis he knew he had to step up
to the plate. While many places
are shuttered, people need to
know which ones are open.
From his years on the force,
he learned it’s really just about
Calvin Thomas a franchise owner of Postnet, who is helping the community during
the crisis Photo courtesy of Schawn Spivey
being proactive.
“People still need to get access
to computers and scanning,”
Thomas said.
He added that not all of the
work is for someone’s job. Sometimes
people use him for personal
stuff as well.
Thomas acknowledged that
many of businesses in the borough
may not reopen and even
if they do, will be in bad shape.
“If you shut down for a few
months and you have no income
coming in will that business
be able to maintain,” he said.
“This is a rough time for a lot of
businesses.”
Bronx PostNet offers free
services for restaurants
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